Carrier packings

ABSTRACT

A carrier packing member of the type having a bag portion with a closed top edge above which the sides of the bag portion continues in a top portion provided with a carrier handle, said top portion being provided with a layer of reinforcing material, said bag sides being joined along an upper fold forming said top edge of the top portion, and said reinforcing layer being enclosed inside the top portion between the bag sides. Further, a method of producing such carrier packing members whereby a strip of reinforcing foil material is continuously laid into a folded length of bag sheet material along the closed fold edge thereof, the strip being introduced transversely into the foldes length from the open edge thereof by means of strip guiding means projecting into the folded length from the open edge thereof and ending in an inclined guiding edge about which the strip is folded so as to thereafter extend in the longitudinal direction of the folded length along the closed edge thereof, where after the two sides of the folded length are joined by welding along a longitudinal welding line parallel with and and spaced from the closed folded edge of the sheet length, and handle means are provided in or secured to the sheet length portion between said folded edge and said welding line, whereafter single packing members are consecutively separated from the front end of the length by welding together and cutting the layers of the sheet length along a transverse line.

tlnited States Patent [1 1 Pedersen Apr. 16, 1974 CARRIER PACKINGS 22 Filed: Mar-.28, 1972 211 Appl. No.: 238,786

[36]" ioi igifxfiilieatibn'Friority Data 5/1928 Snyder 93/35 H Primary Examiner-Andrew R. Juhasz Assistant Examiner-Leon Gilden Attorney, Agent, or F i'rmCraig and Antonelli [57] ABSTRACT A carrier packing member of the type having a bag portion with a closed top edge above which the sides of the bag portion continues in a top portion provided with a carrier handle, said top portion being provided with a layer of reinforcing material, said bag sides being joined along an upper fold forming said top edge of the top portion, and said reinforcing layer being enclosed inside the top portion between the bag sides. Further, a method of producing such carrier packing members whereby a strip of reinforcing foil material is continuously laid into a folded length of bag sheet material along the closed fold edge thereof, the strip being introducedtransversely into the foldes length from the open edge thereof by means of strip guiding means projecting into the folded length from the open edge thereof and ending in an inclined guiding edge about which the strip is folded so as to thereafter extend in the longitudinal direction of the folded length along the closed edge thereof, where after the two sides of the folded length are joined by welding along a longitudinal welding line parallel with and and spaced from the closed folded edge of the sheet length, and handle means are provided in or secured to the sheet length portion between said folded edge and said welding line, whereafter single packing members are consecutively separated from the front end of the length by Welding together and cutting the layers of the sheet length along a transverseline.

1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures CARRIER PACKINGS The present invention relates to carrier bags and more specifically to bags or packings of the type having a bag portion with a closed top edge above which the sides of the bag portion continues in a top portion provided with a carrier handle, said top portion being provided with a layer of a reinforcing material. Such bags or rather packings are usable for many different articles, e.g., rolls of toilet paper or textile products. In the bag factory the bags are made from plastic sheet material with a closed top and open bottom, and these bag members are delivered to the article production factory in which the bags are filled through the bottom opening and closed by welding together or otherwise closing the bottom opening.

Generally it is desirable to reinforce the top or handle portion of the bag, this portion being defined above a horizontal welding line along which the bag sides are welded together. Especially where the handles are provided as holes in these top portions and the bag sides are made of a reasonably thin foil material the handle portion is liable to be flabby, so that it is difficult to grasp the handle in an easy manner. For this reason it is preferred to provide the top portion with a reinforcing or stiffening layer of a heavier foil material, and to this end it has been suggested to secure a separate sheet strip to one or both bag sides across the top portion of the bag, but it has been found that in practical production it is difficult to secure these strips in such a manner that they do not along welding lines weaken the bags or by securing them with glue stick safely to the bag sides all over their area. Moreover, with the use of strips secured in this manner it is difficult to ensure that the colour of the bag top is exactly the same as the colour of the remaining bag.

It is an object of the present invention to'provide a bag of the type referred to, in which a reinforcing strip may be used without involving the said disadvantages.

According to the invention the bag sides are joined along an upper fold forming the top edge portion, whereas the reinforcing layer is enclosed inside the top portion between the bag sides. Hereby the reinforcing layer or strip can simply be situated inside the top portion without its entire surface being secured thereto and still serve its purpose, viz. to give the top piece a stronger and stifi'er character. Moreover, a deviating colour shade of thestrip will not be visible from out side.

An important aspect of the invention concerns the manner of manufacturing this bag member. According to usual production methods, in order to place a material strip along a longitudinal fold of a sheet length in a bag machine, it would be a natural measure to feed the sheet length in its full width to the machine, supply the strip from a supply reel in the correct position adjacent the middle line of the sheet length, and then fold the sheet length about this middle line prior to applying the handle means and providing the transverse welding and cutting lines defining the bag side edges. According to the invention, however, it has been found possible to use a sheet length, which is fed to the machine as a folded length, i.e., to feed it froma supply reel in which it is already folded, and to introduce the said reinforcing strip through the open side or edge of the folded length into its position adjacent the opposite, folded edge. As more specifically set forth hereinafter and in the claims this introduction is made possible with the use of strip guiding means extending transversely into the folded sheet length from the open side thereof and ending in a folding edge about which the strip changes its direction from the transverse to the longitudinal direction so that it is introduced longitudinally between the bag sides adjacent the folded side of the sheet length. Hereafter the bags may be finished in the usual manner. This important aspect of the invention involves the advantage that the bag machine shall not be adapted to handle a sheet length of full breadth; the length may be supplied to the machine in folded or doubled condition so that also large bags can be made on an ordinary machine,The invention also comprises the particular bag making machine.

The invention is explained in more detail in the following with the reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a general perspective view showing schematically a machine for making the bags according to the invention, whilst FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a detail of the machine.

The bag making machine shown in FIG. I is basically an ordinary bag machine comprising carrier means 2 for a supply reel 4 for a length 6 of plastics foil, a tensioning device 8 for ensuring a constant tension in the length passing through the machine, and the drawing means (not shown) for driving the length 6 through the machine in an intermittent manner.

The sheet or foil length 6 is already in the reel 4 present as a doubled length having a fold edge 10 and an open edge 12. The length is moved stepwise past a welding tool 14 operable to be pressed down against the length 6 by any suitable control mechanism represented by a cylinder 15 so as to weld the two foil layers together along a longitudinal line 16, a cutting and welding tool 18 serving to stamp out a handle hole 20 in the length 6 and at the same time preferably weld the hole edges of the different sheet layers together, and a transverse cutting and welding tool 22 serving to cut off the outermost end portion of the length 6 along a transverse welding line 24 constituting a side edge of each single bag 26 produced by the machine. Underneath the tool 18 there is provided a receptacle 28 for the sheet material stamped out from'the holes 20. The machine so far described is an ordinary bag making machine, and it is deemed unnecessary to describe it in more detail.

According to the invention means are provided for introducing a reinforcing strip between the two foil layers in the .space defined between the edge fold I0 and the welding line l6. These means consist of a transverse guiding member 28 mounted on a rigid machine part 259 (see also FIG. 2) and extending into the space between the two sheet sides from the open edge 12 thereof and ending in an inclined edge 30 the outermost portion of which is situated immediately adjacent the interior side of the fold 10. The arm 28 is provided with parallel upstanding guiding edges 31 and 32 for a reinforcing strip 34 supplied from a reel 36 over a tensioning device 38 and overthe outer edge 40 of the arm 28. This strip may be a heavy single layer foil strip. Holding flanges 42 are mounted on the edge elements 31 and 32 so as to give the guiding arm the character of a flat tube.

The strip 34 is bent downwardly about the inclined edge 30 and is in this manner introduced between the bag sides adjacent the fold 10. Since the tools 18 and 22 serve to weld together the bag sides and the strip 34, this strip will be pulled away along with the length 6 so that it is continuously laid into the space between the fold l and the subsequently formed welding line 16. The tension of the foil strip 34, of course, should be adapted in accordance with the tension of the length 6.

Preferably the distance between the opposed guiding edges 31 and 32 of the arm 28 is somewhat bigger than the width of the strip 34. Due to the inclination of the edge 30 the longitudinal portion of the strip 34 will seek outwardly by the pull excerted therein, and in practice it will be stopped by engaging either the guiding edge 31 or preferably the interior side of the fold however, the exact position of this fold may vary somewhat, so that by making the distance between the edges 31 and 32 broader than the strip the strip is given the opportunity to displace itself according to the actual position of the fold 10.

The strip 34 should not necessarily be so wide or placed so that it is welded together with the bag sides aong the line 16.

In FIG 2 it is shown that parallel to the arm 28 there may be arranged another arm 44 also extending into the space between the two bag sides. This arm (or alternatively one side of the arm 28) may serve as a base or backing element for cooperation with a perforation wheel 45 whereby a perforation line may be provided along one of the bag sides underneath the welding line 16. This will enable the bag to be opened in a convenient manner by the consumer in case the bag bottom is not in known manner made so as to be easily openable.

The arm 28 need not be perpendicular to the moving direction of the sheet length, but the edge 30 should have such a direction that the strip 34 by the folding thereabout is thereafter running in the longitudinal direction of the length.

It will be within the scope of the invention to let the strip be welded to the bag sides along the line 16, and also provide the bag with handle means other than the holes 20 e.g., carrier straps as shown in dotted lines at 25 in FIG. 1.

What is claimed is:

l. A method of producing carrier packing members comprising the steps of advancing a length of a double, monolaterally folded sheet material past an introduction station, guiding a strip formed reinforcing foil from a position outside the open side edge of the said double sheet length into a delivery position inside the double sheet length adjacent the opposed closed side edge thereof, continuously feeding the foil strip into the moving double sheet length along the closed fold edge thereof so as to thereafter be advanced together with the double sheet length, whereafter, joining the two opposed layers of the double sheet length along a line parallel with and spaced from the closed fold edge of the sheet length, providing carrier handle means in the area between said joining line and the fold edge, and consecutively separating from the end of the double sheet length single carrier packing members by joining and cutting the sheet length layers along a transverse line. 

1. A method of producing carrier packing members comprising the steps of advancing a length of a double, monolaterally folded sheet material past an introduction station, guiding a strip formed reinforcing foil from a position outside the open side edge of the said double sheet length into a delivery position inside the double sheet length adjacent the opposed closed side edge thereof, continuously feeding the foil strip into the moving double sheet length along the closed fold edge thereof so as to thereafter be advanced together with the double sheet length, whereafter, joining the two opposed layers of the double sheet length along a line parallel with and spaced from the closed fold edge of the sheet length, providing carrier handle means in the area between said joining line and the fold edge, and consecutively separating from the end of the double sheet length single carrier packing members by joining and cutting the sheet length layers alonG a transverse line. 